My Photos

This week marks the holiday of Chanukah, and the victory of the Maccabees over the Greek desecrators of the Temple. The ancient Jews, fighting for their homeland, were fierce warriors, who were not finally defeated until the Romans did so in 70AD with the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Here are some pictures that I took on our trip to Israel in 2007.

Walls and room, Masada, Israel

Evidence of another group of brave Jews, who committed suicide rather than surrender to the Romans.

View from the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel. This is MY Country.

This is the view from Masada, toward the Dead Sea. Dry, but absolutely beautiful.

The lower pool at Ein Gedi, oasis amid the parched wilderness.

The ancient city of Caesarea, on the Mediterranean Sea. The city of Herod the Great.

Women at the Wailing Wall, remnant of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. These are MY People.

Happy Chanukah to all.

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Readers, do you want to really impress your spouse or “significant other” this year? Have you been wracking your brain trying to think of something to give him or her for Christmas this year? Are your gift ideas just not making it? Well, try something from Tiffany. That distinctive blue box under the tree will excite just about anyone, especially if they are not expecting it.

You say, “Tiffany is way too expensive for me”, or “I’m reluctant to even walk into a Tiffany store past those intimidating guards”. Let me disabuse you of those notions. Tiffany sells many products that are within the budget of most people. Did you know, Tiffany sells a line of home goods, including glassware, barware, and even chopsticks? Yes, chopsticks! I actually bought my husband a pair of their solid-walnut chopsticks, with a sterling silver end piece that I had monogrammed with his initials. Very cool!

Get a load of this, just for those who live in cities where plastic straws are banned. It’s a sterling silver “Crazy Straw”.

About those door guards… They are just human beings, and you should not be intimidated by them. Just think of yourself as a Customer, and like any other retailer, Tiffany loves customers, especially new customers. So get up your courage, and walk right in, being sure to greet the guard with a smile and a hearty “Good Afternoon”. Then, just go around and look in all the display cases, and find something that your honey will like.

Tiffany has a huge selection of sterling silver jewelry and accessories that are very affordable. When I was single and living on a shoestring, I saved up all year to go to Tiffany and treat myself to a pair of sterling earrings. They come out with new styles all year long, so you should be able to find something in your price range. And from long experience, I can tell you that Tiffany salespeople understand if you are on a limited budget, so tell them what your price range is, and they will come up with something wonderful.

So, Try Tiffany this holiday season. You won’t regret it, and your Sweetie will be delighted. I guarantee it!

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I have a wealth of things to be thankful for this year. No health problems, no home disasters, no natural disasters. A promotion and big raise, and lots of praise at work, where I make a difference every day. I am so fortunate to have been born in the United States of America, the very best place on Earth, the place that everyone in less-developed parts of the world wants to come to. [If the USA is such a bad, racist, misogynist, homophobic, capitalistic, place, just why do so many “migrants” clamor to be admitted?]

Tulip Fields near Mount Vernon, WA

And it helps that I live in one of the most beautiful corners of the United States, the Pacific Northwest. My husband and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary last month, and we are lucky to be in good health and fine spirits. And here’s a toast to the superlative American medical system, which got him through knee-replacement surgery in fine style-he is mostly recovering, and back at his squash workouts again. I love my Sweetie!

I have been a member of two warm, welcoming conservative blog sites, Ricochet and Ratburger. I have posted both places, as well, as here, and garnered comments and friendly argument (ONLY on conservative sites and with conservative people can “friendly argument” not be an oxymoron). I am especially thankful for all the members from both sites, for keeping me sane in an increasingly insane world. And Thanksgiving can’t go by without mention of the One who inspires me each day, the Doctor of Democracy, Rush Limbaugh.

And here’s a little Thanksgiving present for the followers and readers of Calling-all-RushBabes. Thanks for helping make my blog a success! Click on the link below.

I’m pretty old-fashioned. I don’t own a smartphone, and most of my photography is done with an advanced point-and-shoot camera. I loved my Canon SX20IS camera, not the least because it operated on four AA batteries. I never had to worry about its battery dying, because I always kept a spare set of batteries in my bag. I had it fixed once when the flip-out screen stopped working. But on a recent trip to Victoria, BC, I dropped it on a hard floor, and the door to the battery compartment broke clean off. So, time for a new camera.

My followers will know that i’m a picture-taking fool, and all the pictures you see on this blog were taken with my SX20IS. Here are some of the last photos I took with it, in Victoria last weekend.

We stayed at our favorite Inn at Laurel Point this time, but on the opposite side of the building from where we normally book our room. Reason being, that the rooms across the hall had a view worse than this one-see the “construction zone” below? The opposite view was a big honking hole in the ground where the beautiful garden used to be, and a bunch of earth-movers. The hotel is undergoing a big remodel, and everything was strictly-from hunger this year. But we did get a nice view of the inner Inner Harbour. The first afternoon, we went out for lunch, and just by feel, Hubby found a neat pizza restaurant we visited last time. It was across the street from this place.

I got the biggest kick out of the coat of arms! See the Beagle on the left? After lunch, we went on our usual walking tour of downtown Victoria. There seems to be a bunch of construction going on there too. We saw this historic building being renovated-they were careful to preserve the outer walls, and are completely replacing the inside!

We went over the the Empress Hotel to pick up some of their famous tea. And I captured the last days of the old Bengal Lounge, which had an awesome Indian buffet for lunch and dinner. These are all that is left of it.

I really liked the elephant door-handles.

We enjoyed this fellow busking on the sidewalk near the marina.

Before we walked on, Hubby “paid the piper”. His costume did leave a bit to be desired, though. He was wearing navy socks with the obvious Under Armour logo!

Here are some shots of the harbor at sunset on our walk home.

And then we saw our old friend, the Coho Ferry leaving port.

When I got home, I got on the trusty computer and ordered myself a new camera. Staying with Canon, I bought a similar model, an SX60HS. Here are a couple of new pictures I took close to home.

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Antifa protesters outside the home of Tucker Carlson, a Fox News commentator.

Protesters outside the home of Ajit Pai, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Mr. Pai has a wife and children, who were frightened by the angry people shouting outside their home. They had to go into hiding.

This is what Antifa promises people who do not agree with them.

This is who they are. These people are not supporters of conservatives.

Democrat supporters prefer mob rule. Anyone who disagrees with them is liable to have a mob on his front lawn, or outside his office, screaming and threatening violence.

If you voted Democrat on Tuesday, this whom you voted for. Be very careful out there. One wrong word to the wrong person could lead to these people forming up outside YOUR front door, demanding blood. Your livelihood may be threatened, your family might be in danger, if you get on the wrong side of the Liberal Mob.

May I add my disgust at the results of yesterday’s election. I am ashamed to be a resident of the state where the voters vote themselves higher taxes, boondoggle projects that waste their dollars (choo-choo train that 1% of the population will ride), essentially disarm their police (after I 940 passes with 60% support, police will be regulated to death and almost have to ask the criminal’s permission to respond with deadly force-the initiative Curbs Police Violence!!); disarm themselves with gun regulations (I 1639 adds more onerous regulation of legal firearms owned by law-abiding citizens, thus reducing every citizen’s ability to defend himself from the increasing crime, especially in cities); and make all the more certain that more ineffective social programs are coming.

The voters of WA sent an abortion-supporting Pediatrician(!) to Congress, turning Blue a district that has been Red for many years; voted down their loudest voice in the State House against the predations of un-Sound Transit (I wish Mark Harmsworth much luck and prosperity in the rest of his life, and mourn that I do not live in his district), and sent even more D’s to the state legislature. [And the Board of un-Sound Transit is about to give the Capo di Tutti Capi a big raise-on MY DIME]. I always knew my own district was a lost cause (the ass with the perpetual sneer who is NOT my “representative” in Congress received 72% of the vote) and the entire state is even a bigger lost cause now. Of the ten WA congressional districts, seven are now represented by Democrats.

As expected, the citizens of Seattle voted themselves another huge “families and education levy” that will not improve either families or education (throwing money at problems never solves them). But then, the liberals who tax themselves to death do not CARE whether they have any effect whatsoever; they just feel so good that they are helping (which they do not).

State voters did do a couple of good things. They emphatically rejected yet another “carbon fee”, which we recognize is really a Carbon Tax, and they made illegal the banning or taxing of particular food products by local jurisdictions (here’s looking at you, Seattle Sweetened Beverage Tax).

Well, the citizens of the State of Washington get exactly the government they elect. I just wish I didn’t have to live with what the Democ-Rats vote for.

This is perhaps not what they wanted to hear, but it is the Truth. When there was a Republican running, that’s whom I voted for. The Republican Party in Washington State is a joke. The man with the perpetual sneer who “represents’ my district doesn’t have to campaign, since he has next to no opposition. I find this abhorrent. On my ballot there were half a dozen offices where there was only one candidate. I never vote for anyone running unopposed.

I voted, even though my vote counts for next to nothing in this deep blue state. I support President Donald Trump, and I have hope that the Republicans will retain their majority in the House and add to their Senate majority. However, I will not be staying up late tonight to watch the returns. I have work to do that is way more important.

This is me last week on Halloween. I dressed up as Washington’s worst nightmare-an avid Trump supporter.